Zhangye Danxia Landform, China
By: Phianna, Jordache & Elayne
Info
Zhangye Danxia Landform also known as Zhāngyē dān xiá dìmào, is located near Zhangye city, in China's north-western Gansu province. Zhangye Danxia Landform covers an enormous amount of land, equivalent to 510 square metres/200 square miles. It is known for its unique rock formation, and natural colours on the rocks. It was formerly a scenic park, until November in 2011 when many tourists were carving things/words onto the rocks.
Features
Zhangye Danxia is unique as its magnificent colours were formed naturally by minerals. It is one of a few mountains to be this magnificent rainbow colour. A series of boardwalks and access roads have been built to enable tourists to explore the rock formations.
Issues and Why It Should Be a World Heritage Site
Zhangye Danxia should be added to the World Heritage List as it is facing a horrific problem. Numerous amount of tourists visit Zhangye Danxia and may take small specimens of the mountains home as a souvenir. Tourists can be very sneaky, so guards may only catch some of the many people who will try to get a souvenir from the mountains. People always take shells from the beach home, so that is an example of what many people will do too.
Many people are also carving things/words into the beautiful mountains. This means there will eventually be a massive problem, because if people keep carving away the mountain, the Zhangye Danxia may exist in a few billion years to come. Roads are made by digging into the ground which results as a fade in the colour on the mountains. Soon the roads wear out, and so workers need to dig deeper into the ground, hence, colours will fade out. Therefore, Zhangye Danxia Landform must be added to the World Heritage List.
Zhangye Danxia Landform
A continuous road that circulates Zhangye Danxia Landform
Bridgeway & Road
China's Rainbow Mountains Get its Vibrant Colors from Minerals